Once again, the Nicaraguan government did not attend the hearing requested by civil society organizations, before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) held earlier in the week in Panama. No representative of the Nicaraguan State responded to the call of the regional body, a repeat of the previous session.

The Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) introduced six new banknotes this week and three coins to facilitate commercial transactions amid the escalating inflation in the country. Circulation will begin as of December 15th.

Representatives of Cuba and the United States meet Wednesday in Havana to define actions to “advance the process of improving bilateral relations” with high-level visits and new agreements, the Cuban Government reported Tuesday.

The European Council approved an agreement Tuesday on political dialogue and cooperation between the European Union (EU) and Cuba, which will end the so-called “common position” promoted by the former Spanish president José María Aznar and that restricted the relations with the island.

More than 20 Cuban opponents of the Castro government were arrested, harassed or threatened in Cuba after the death of Fidel Castro, including graffiti artist “El Sexto”, who is still under arrest, a Cuban human rights group denounced on Monday.

In an historic win for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North Dakota and the environment, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers denied Energy Transfer Partners, the company behind the pipeline, a permit to drill underneath Lake Oahe on the Missouri River—officially halting construction on the Dakota Access pipeline.